Hey guys,
I just have two questions - first of which is why do we do two Litanies of the Gospel in the Liturgy of the Word on Palm Sunday? The other is, why don't we commemorate Holy Week on the week the Synaxar says to - Christ being crucified on Baramhat 27 (April 5th this year) and his Resurrection on the 29th (April 7th)? Thank you and God Bless.
Comments
The answer to the first question is yes, but I wonder if the original rite was for a litany before each Gospel! However the current practice is to sing the first psalm in a festive tune and the second one before the fourth Gospel in an annual tune.
The answer to the second question is lengthy, so I will summarise but please do ask me again.. * feast of the Resurrection complies with 3 conditions (a Sunday, after the vernal - spring - equinox, and after the Jewish first full moon - Jewish passover). Because of the latter condition it has to change every year and this is calculated by the Alexandrian apokty (computus) calculation. As far as the Synexarium is concerned, the one universal Catholic Church, agreed to a date of the 29th of Kiahk, or 25th of December being the Nativity of the Lord, and therefore Annunciation 9 months earlier (10 months in the Coptic Church), 29th of Baramhat or 25th of March, which incidentally happened to be the first day of the new year in the British empire for a long time. With regards to the Crucifixion and Resurrection the Copts thought the day God was conceived in the womb would be better treated as the day of His Resurrection and hence the 27th of Baramhat is taken to be the Crucifixion (BTW other churches celebrate the day of Crucifixion with the Annunciation unlike us).
I can tell you that very few people understand what I just explained because I came to learn all of this when I was preparing a response to Fr Youhanna Nassif's thesis on changing the date of the Nativity feast.. You may find this in another special thread on this forum..
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